Axle-machine



S. HARRIS, AXLE MACHINE.

No. 437,029. Patent-ed Sept. 23V, 1890.

1 1.- x Ellllllllllllw MT-imi'.

Wnessea we sums uns co.. mom-uma., msumnvow, D. c,

(No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

s. HARRIS. AXLE MACHINE.

Paftent'ed Sept. 23, 1890.

I FLL al@ za'z'fzegr l 7- i Y WLLr-LESEEE Tens co.. vwo-umu.. msmmrron nc (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

S. HARRIS.

l AXLB MACHINE. NO- 437.029-I` Petented Sept. 23, 1890.

T1 5- f, T I i M imggf WLLVLE s s e s um. QW

Ha 2"/7 @y 4 Sheets-Sheet 4:,l

Patented Sept. 23, 1890.

fn... tu

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

SILAS HARRIS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

AxLE-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 437,029, datedSeptember 23, 1890e I Application filed February 15, 1890. Serial No.340,660. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SILAs HARRIS, a citid zen of the United States,residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and .useful Improvements inAxle-Machines; and

I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of said invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it most nearly appertains to make, use, and practice thesame.

The object of my invention is to produce wagon or car axles completelyfinished and ready for use by forging and without the use of a lathe.

I have discovered that by subjecting a heated bar to a preliminaryroughing operation under a trip-hammer it can afterward be formed,shaped, and rounded in a suitable forging mechanism, wherebya journal iscompletely finished and shaped with a forged surface as smooth as glass,thus producing a wagon or car journal which is far superior to thejournals turned in a lathe. My invention therefore relates to a machinewhich is adapted to rough, shape, form, and finish a wagon-axle by asuccession of dies and hammers, so that the heated bar can be operatedupon and passed from one die to the other during a single heat, ifpreferred, and thus be completed ready for use.

Referring to the drawings herewith, forming part of this specification,Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved axle-machine; Fig. 2, afront elevation of the same with the lower front part removed; Fig. 3, asectional side elevation of that part through which theaxle is insertedand by which it is held; Fig. 4, a cross-section taken from line @c.9a-Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 5, also across-section taken from line fy y, same figure, looking the same way;Fig. 6, a perspective view of one of the axle-grippers; Fig. 7, a planof the axle-seat; Fig. 8, a cross-sec tion taken from line w w, Fig. 7,looking toward the right; Fig. 9, a perspective view of a block used forholding the axle in place while being set; Fig. l0,a detail view inperspective of one of the finishing-dies; Fig. Il, a plan of theroughing and shaping dies for plain axles; Fig. l2, a detail view of aplain axle when taken from the finishing-dies; Fig. 13, a plan of theroughing-dies for solid-collared axles; Fig. 14, a plan of the dieswhere the neck of the axles is formed Vand the thread forged on, andFig. 15 a broken view of a solid-eollared axle completely finished.

Let A represent the base of the machine, and B standards risingtherefrom and united bya beam C at their top. Upon the base between thestandards are matching dies D E, the upper one of which is secured todrophammers F F', operated by cams G G on the shaft H. .By preferencethe cams G, working the hammer F, are three in number, (one only,however,being shown in the drawings,) while two are suflicient tooperate the hammer F it being advisable to work the roughing and shapingdies D faster than the iinishingdies E.y These two lastmentioned camsare shown by dotted lines in Fig. l, from which it will be seen that thecams project radially from the shaft H.

It is very important to strike quick blows with the hammers in order toproduce a very smooth axle-journal. This very desirable effect Iobtain-in my machine by coniining the shank of the hammers Within spiralspringsI I', located above and below the beam C, as illustrated in Fig.2. As will be noticed, the springs I are compressed whenfthe springs Iare distended, and the reverse, and this arrangement I have foundbyexperience to produce most satisfactory results.

Detail views of the roughing, shaping, and finishing dies are shown atFigs. IO, 1l, and I3, where it can be seen that the die-grooves a h c,wherein the axle-journal is formed, are graduallyreducedin size, theaxlebei ng passed through each in the order named. I have not shown inthe accompanying drawings the mode through which the rectangular part ofthe axle is formed, as this is an elementary process involving noinvention and may be carried out in various Ways, either by rolling,striking with a steam-hammer, or stamping with an extra die added to mymachine, as preferred. The Inost important part of an axle and the onerequiring the most expertness in makingv is the journal, and it isbetter for the present purpose to confine any description to thetreatment of this part. Havu IOO ing then formed the rectangular part ofthe axle, as just stated, I pass its ends through the groove a of thedies D and subject it to the roughing operation, turning the axle byhand while it is struck. Of course, if it be a plain axle, I use the dierepresented in Fig. l1; if a solid collared one the die shown at Fig.13. The axle having undergone the roughing operation, I nextworkitin thegroove Z) of the same dies D, when the journal is given the propershape, the turning ofthe axle being here again done by hand, and after Ihave thus shaped the journal I finally pass it through the dies E, whereit is reduced to the proper size and finished.

Opposite the end of the groove c of the matching dies F. and in front ofthe machine Ilmonnt a peculiar device for holding and turningthe axlewhile the journal is being finished, as represented in Fig. l. It iscomposed -of a pair of grippers J, (see Figs. 3, f4, 5, and 6,) securedto the inner sides of a cylinder K and adapted to be revolved with thelatter within an outer shell L by means of a toothed wheel M, hook N,and pivoted lever O, actuated by cams or rollers I), projecting inwardlyfrom the fly-wheel Q. It will be seen that these grippers are providedwith enlarged concaved ends ,7' j, connected by a central webj, andtheir rear ends are provided with inner enlargements 7'2 j2, as shown inFigs. 3 and 6, which when the axle is inserted bear against the rear endthereof and support the same. It will also be noticed that the grippersare secured to the inner surface of the cylinder K by means of bolts J.

The axle R is inserted between and held by the grippers .I in such aposition that its journal may lie within the matching dies and its endsabut against springs S S, secured, respectively, to the front and rearof the machine. The front spring S is stronger than the rear spring S',so that the yielding of the latter maypermit the expansion of the metalstamped out in its direction. Caps T T', pivoted to these springs,prevent them from slipping off the ends of theaxle When it is turned.

As previously stated, the axle-journal is first roughed and shaped inthe grooves or chambers a h of the dies D and then finished in thegroove c of the dies E. It does not matter much if the dies D iitaccurately together or not, as the axle is withdrawn from them in arather rough state; but it is important that the dies E match perfectly,in order that the axlejournal be completely finished when taken out ofthe latter. This I cifect by providing the faces of the dies E withprojections c and corresponding depressions, as shown at Figs. 2 and l0.These dies are thus rendered self-guding and constantly kept in a trueposition relatively to each other, and I am enabled through their useand by a continual and regular automatic rotation of the axlejournalwhile being struck, as hereinbefore set forth, to finish an axle solelyby stamping or forging without the use of a lathe.

The axle shown at Fig. l2 and elsewhere in the drawings is a plain axle;but it is evident that a full-eollared axle, such as is shown at Fig.l5, may be made with my machine just as well by simply using the properkind of dies-that is to say, dies having a groove a, as in Fig. 13, anda groove l), as in Fig. 11.

The neck of the axle and the thread atits extreme end I forge by meansof dies, such as are shown at Fig. 14, the end of the journal beingpassed successively through the grooves (I, f, and g. These dies areused either on my machine, by substituting them, for instance, for theother dies or adding an extra hammer, or on another machine similarlyoperated.

It has been customary to pass the axle through another machine in orderto give it the proper set; but as this process leads to someinconvenience I prefer-setting it on the saine machine I use fortheforging. I therefore lay the axle, after it has been withdrawn fromthe finishing-dies, onto a support at the right of the machine undereccentric-rollers V V', operated by the geared Wheels lV lV', Fig. 7, towhich motion is imparted from the shaft l'I, Fig. l. The rollers V Vrevolve in opposite directions, pressing on the axle inwardly, so thatthe latter may not slipiout of place. A block X, (see Figs. 8 and 9,)set upon the axle-journal and pressed down by another eccentric Y,further helps to maintain the axle true while set. A clutch Z brings therollers V V into operation, and it is calculated that the axle will beproperly set at a single turn of the eccentrics. I thus produce an axlefrom a blank by passing it through one single machine and thereby eifecta great saving in time. The chief advantage oi' my invention, though,consists in that I avoid the use of the lathe. It is a fact admitted byall iron-workers that the lathe takes off the best of the metal,whiehlies on the outside,whereas by my stamping process the metal iscompressed and hardened and enables me to manufacture axles of superiorexcellence.

I am aware that dies and machines for forging axles have beenconstructed prior to my invention; but, so far as known to me, none haveeverbeen devised so as to turn out a complete axle which does notrequire finishing on the lathe.

I therefore claim"n 1. In an axleqnaehine, the combination,with dies, ofgrippers for engaging the axle, said grippers having enlarged concavcdends with a central web and their rear ends provided with innerenlargements adapted to bear against the inner end of the axle, substalvtially as set forth.

2. In an axle-machine, the combination of dies, grippers for engagingthe axle, a cylin-Y der surrounding the same and carrying upon its innerend a toothed Wheel, an outer shell surrounding the cylinder,a hook andpivoted lever, and a flywheel provided with cams or rollers for engagingthe pivoted lever, substantially as set forth.

IOO

IIO

3. In an axle-machine, the combination of a die consisting of upper andlower sections, the matrices thereof being of varying diameter, wherebythe axle is roughened and shaped, in combination with means foroperating the die, substantially as set forth.

4. In an axle-machine, the combination, with the dies thereof, of frontand rear springs and caps pivoted to said springs for engaging the endsof the axle, substantially as set forth.

5. In an axle-machine, the combinationV of a frame provided with anaxle-support, shafts having eccentrics thereon for engaging the axle,and means for rotating said shafts in opposite directions, substantiallyas Set forth.

6. In an axle-machine, the combination of a frame provided with anaxle-support, a main shaftcarryin'g a belt-pulley thereon, short shaftscarrying suitable cog-wheels and also having mounted thereon eccentricsfor engaging the axle, a pulley-belt connecting one of the short shaftswith the pulley-wheel of the main shaft, and clutch mechanism forthrowing the cog-wheels intogear, substantially as set forth.

7. In an axle-machine, the combination of a frame provided with anaxle-support, shafts having eccentrics mounted thereon for engaging theaxle, means for rotating the shafts in opposite directionsa blockbearing upon the axle-journal, and a rear short shaft provided with aneccentric for engaging said block, substantially as set forth. A

8. In an axle-machine, the combination of a frame having end and centralstandards extending therefrom, a cross-beam uniting said standards attheir upper ends, dies located upon one side of the machine, the facesAor sections thereof being provided with grooves for roughening andshaping the axle, a hammer secured to the upper section or face of saiddie and having its shank passing through the cross-beam, dies upon theopposite side of the machine for finishing the axle, a hammer connectedto the upper section of said last-named die and having its shank passingthrough the cross-beam,brackets depending from said cross-beam, a mainshaft having a pulley-Wheel upon one end and a fly-Wheel upon theopposite end, coiled springs encircling the Shanks of the hammers below7the cross-beam and seated upon the brackets, coiled springs above thecross-beam, and cams upon the main shaft for operating the hammers,substantiallyT as set forth.

9. In an axle-machine, the combination of dies, a cylindrical casing forthe axle carrying upon its inner end a toothed wheel, and

Van actuating-hook for engaging said toothed wheel, substantially as setforth.

l0. In an axle-machine, the combination, with the dies thereof, of frontand rear springs for engaging the ends of the axles, said rear springhaving greater resiliency than the former, so that the yielding thereofmay permit the expansion of the metal stamped out in its direction,substantially .as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in thepresence'of two witnesses.

SILAS HARRIS.

In presence of A. H. STE. MARIE, M. E. LoEFLER.

